Introduction

Formula One cars are always fascinating me by their technology, shape and speed. Drivers are not only required to have superior driving skills, but must also have sharp focus, fast reactions, and high fitness levels. To be on top of the game you need more than to simply become a superstar.

The image, Ferrari F-1 2000 Michael Schumacher, was inspired by the moment when Michael Schumacher crossed the finish line of the 2000 Formula One Australian Grand Prix.

Starting Point

To begin this project, I started by collecting as much reference material as I could possibly find (images, technical data, and even the box of a Tamiya F1-2000 scale model) (Fig01 - 04). I chose to use V-Ray for this particular project due to its fast and amazing quality renders.

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Modelling

The modelling process was smooth and easy due to large amount of reference material that I had with me. The entire modelling process was done in editable poly. I also set up the basic lighting and camera during the modelling stage, as this helped me to judge the accuracy of the shape from different angles (Fig05 - 12). Logos on the car were collected from images on the Internet and sponsors' websites.

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Texturing

After the modelling part came another exciting part of the project: UV unwrapping and texturing. To unwrap the car wasn't too difficult, I just had to make sure that there were no logos being stretched or flipped up-side down. The environment textures, such as the background drop (crowds), grass, road surface and so on, were all real photographic references and textures - all done in Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Fig13 - 15 & Fig16a - d).